In a world with an intellectual history of seven thousand years behind it, where do Pakistanis stand, what are they doing, what do they aspire to be, and what ought they to be doing? This Blog takes Notes of all of that ...

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Universality of “Conspiracy Theories” in Pakistan

The street intellect as a rule and the scholarly intellect generally
live and thrive on the staple food of Conspiracy Theories in Pakistan.

Nothing is so acceptable and universal here as the occurrence of
conspiracy theories. Be they daily incidents, or the historical events of national
or international significance, they all originate, it is understood, from the
womb of certain eternal conspirators, the selection of which depends on the
nature of the event to be explained. Descartes ought to be jealous of this
Certitude!

Likewise, be it academia or any think tank (an animal so rare in
Pakistan!), or an intellectual, literary, economic, historical, religious,
political organization, or any such thing, or the all-powerful entity of the
state and government of Pakistan (powerful versus the ordinary citizens only!),
they all solve and resolve the problem of explaining all the happenings by
taking recourse to this or that conspiracy theory or conspirator.

Almost all the intellectual minds in Pakistan, from top to bottom, now and
then, use a ready-made list of conspirators to explain away the events, be they
as simple as a usual rain or be they as complex as the case of present
Bablochistan is.

They start with a conspiratorial premise, and usually go for all that
hard labor known as research or data collection and analysis, but then end up with begging
the question. In short, they do not seem to mind the evidence or data
conflicting with their conclusions, and the irrationality of their inferences
also. That is nature of almost all the scholarship in Pakistan!

The list includes a variety of enemies, ranging from concrete and
abstract to manufactured and fancied ones; and is used as the situation
requires and ‘as the case may be.’

Here are some “enemies” from this handy list:

* West

* Westernism

* Western Civilization

* Western Philosophy

* Western Literature

* Western Sciences

* Western Dress

* Western Technology

* Every New Gadget

* Modernism

* Imperialism

* British Imperialism

* Colonialism

* British Colonialism

* Neo-Colonialism

* American Imperialism

* American Neo-Colonialism

* Expansionism

* American Expansionism

* Russian Expansionism

* Indian Expansionism

* Chinese Expansionism

* USA

* Soviet Union

* Communism

* Socialism

* India

* Jews

* Israel

* Europe

* WTO (World Trade Organization)

* UN (United Nations)

* The World Bank

* IMF (International Monetary Fund)

* ADB (Asian Development Bank)

* Big Business

* MNCs (Multi-National Corporations)

* TNCs (Trans-National Corporations)

* Capitalism

* Capitalists

* Consumerism

* Foreign Hand

* Holly wood

* Bollywood

* Feudalism

* ISI

* NGOs

* Women

The target of these conspiracy theories and conspirators are those
helpless beings who think themselves as the Eternal Victim.

Let me define the mentality of victimhood: a victim is one who earnestly
considers himself a victim of countless victimizations for this or that or for
any reason.

The psyche and psychology of this victimhood is quite complicated; and
again all such subjects or disciplines are studied in the West by the Jews or
Americans or Europeans. That strengthens the sense of victimhood in the victims,
and makes them Charismatic also.

These victims, they consider themselves perfectly innocent and perfectly
passive, the like of which can never be found on the face of this earth. This world,
because of its so worldliness, has got nothing to do but to be always engaged
in hatching conspiracies to deprive these chosen people of their perfect
innocence and perfect passivity so that they become like the other ordinary
human beings who populate this earth.

This scheme is so perfect a scheme of things that it presents them with
no problems, such problems which require hard thinking and hard labor to be
solved, since all the problems always stand solved well before they arise. What
is to be bothered about is the simplest act of encircling the relevant “enemy”
out of the list! Here is happening A, and behind it is the foreign hand, or any
other nomenclature which will work.

That works wonder in Pakistan!

Also, I think it is this methodology and this approach generally which
never lets us strive to find the Truth.

For the same reason, most of the “commissions of inquiries” never reach
any credible conclusions or findings, and never the Truth comes to the fore in
Pakistan. The latest example is the Abbottabad Commission, whose findings as
reported in the press no one is going to believe.

Actually, in each case the abundance of conspiracy theories and conspirators
distorts the horizon so much s that the Truth is lost.

Also, in Pakistan, the Truth is always concocted or manufactured, or
manipulated and injured. It never appears in a crystal clear form!

Or more truly, no attempt at reaching such a truth finds its way to the
realm of seeking and learning.

Let’s come to the point:

Recently I participated in two events and my above-stated apprehensions
got a boost.

On October 12, I attended a gathering organized by Pakistan Writers Club
in Lahore, where “Pakistan Kaesay Bana” (How Pakistan came into being) in two
volumes, written by Zahid Chaoudhry and Hassan Jafar Zaidi, was to be reviewed
and discussed.

First Hussain Majrooh read a review of the book. Majrooh is basically a
poet, and the language he used to review a book of history was mostly literary.
Then he gave a talk detailing the issues dealt with in the books.

One important point he made: These books have been written in a
scientific and objective manner; and in the same breath he said: The writers
hold a progressive point of view and have analyzed the historical data using
the methodology of historical materialism.

How these two views, scientific and objective on the one hand, and
progressive and materialist on the other, reconcile is difficult to understand.

This reminds me of Frederick Engels’ book, Socialism: Utopian and
Scientific. The reviewer might be using the term, “scientific” in the sense
Engels’ uses.

I think the reviewer did not do justice to the book. He should have
given due attention to the methodology the authors have used in analyzing the
data and formulating their findings.

Later, Rashid Misbah, Khalid Mahboob, and one of the authors, Hassan
Jafar Zaidi himself spoke. They all and especially the author explained the
same methodology and there was consensus that the sub-continent was partitioned
by the British to serve their agenda, and along with them, it were the Hindus,
or the Congress, who or which helped the British execute this conspiracy or let
the partition take place, --- since the same was in their interest.

On October 16, there was another event organized by the Progressive
Writers Association, where tributes were paid to late Hameed Akhtar, a
prominent figure of the original Anjuman-e-Taraqqi Pasand Musannifeen
(Progressive Writers Association), and colleague of Sajjad Zaheer, one of the
founders of the Anjuman.

I reached late, and the proceedings were already in progress. Rashid
Misbah, a short-story writer, was expressing his views laden with Socialist
jargon and typically against Feudalism, Capitalism, and Multi-National
Corporations, and Consumerism, etc. Then other speakers shared their views
about the life and work of Hameed Akhtar. Then Professor Saadat Saeed, took the
rostrum. He talked about the oppressors and the oppressed; about the
victimization and exploitation of the masses at the hands of capitalists,
imperialists, etc. His punch line, in my opinion, was like this: The oppressors
and exploiters are defrauding the people, and now they have amassed misappropriated
wealth in the form of merely a plastic card. By it, he meant, Credit Card.

Unfortunately, I had to leave, and I left.

So this is how history is being written, read, understood and discussed
in Pakistan. Even if there is enough historical research accomplished, as is
said about the above-mentioned book (and other 10 books in this series), the
result is the same.

Let me confess: I have yet to read Hassan Jafar Zaidi’s book; that’s why
I abstained from expressing my own views specifically about this book. But what
I gleaned from the proceedings of the event I have reported here.

2 comments:

This article shows lots of confusion,you started this with conspiracy theory,and then discuss lots of topic with out going into details of any.In any society where there is no transparency about the events,where both Government and people have little or no control over events,Conspiracy theory take a foot hold,Pakistan is more venerable to these theories as we have been devoid of any credible data from the time of Independence,we dont even know how our country is dismember,we have not fixed the responsibility.Its time we should own up our history,with out any change in it.Its time we start facing the facts with out adding any justification in it.

"This brain-eating virus of conspiracy theories in this area began with the conspiratorial entry and exit of Muhammad bin Qasim (MBQ) from Sindh. This prolonged exposure, (13 centuries) to the brain eating virus has reverted the residents of this area into language speaking reptiles. Their staple diet is lies and falsehood. They kill "Truth" where ever they find it, not to eat, but only to bury it. They are fully awake to the fact that eating it shall kill them en-masse. For them, there can be no living except reptilian." Excerpts from the Historical Survey Notebook of an One-Day Alien Visitor to the land of Ind and Sind

The Blogger

The blogger cherishes a cosmopolitan spirit; he is a moralist; a rationalist; a philosopher; a political philosopher; he believes in Classical Liberalism, as a Theory of Conduct.
He has substantially contributed to the founding of the first free market think tank of Pakistan, Alternate Solutions Institute.
He is a writer who wrote / published dozens of articles on a variety of issues, and is author of 4 books.
He wrote / published short-stories in Punjabi, a regional language of Pakistan.
He composes poetry both in Urdu and Punjabi, and has already published one collection.